A D.C. disability rights group is blaming the death of a psychiatric hospital patient on distracted staff.
Disability Rights DC, a federally-designated protection and advocacy program for people with disabilities, released a report Wednesday claiming that staff at Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital, a public psychiatric institute in southwest D.C., directly aided the death of a patient because they were distracted by their phones.
In March, 65-year-old David Dowell was brutally attacked and killed in his room by another patient, 28-year-old Charles Lee. The report states that Lee was able to enter Dowell’s room unnoticed and says he choked and stabbed Dowell for over 35 minutes. When staff finally arrived, Dowell was already dead.
Lee was charged with first degree murder in the case.
After analyzing surveillance footage of the night the incident took place, the group reports that “all staff persons who were working that night on the unit grossly neglected their duties and failed to follow many Hospital policies.”
The report goes on to say “none of the staff persons were monitoring the areas of the unit prior to and during the assault, as required by Hospital policy.”
Hospital staff submitted incident reports that were falsified, claiming they did rounds and called for help, contradicting video proof from the surveillance footage, according to the investigation report. The night staff at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital have since been terminated.
The advocacy group is calling for the hospital to ensure its staff carries out all necessary procedures and meets the hospital’s policies to ensure the safety of its patients.
